Joseph Miller
How rapidly time is thinning the ranks of the brave boys in blue who went forth in defense of the nation's integrity during the dark and stormy epoch of the Civil war is evident to even the superficial observer, and the silvered heads of those who appear in the ranks of the veterans at the various encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic show whither the line of march is tending. The younger generation may well look in admiration and honor upon these valiant sons of the republic who saved to the world a grand and united country, and though time has thrown its beneficent influence over the story of the great conflict and the animosities of the past have been softened and chastened, yet never can there be aught appreciation of the services of the men who followed the stars and stripes on the sanguinary battlefields of the South. One of the honored veterans of the war of the Rebellion was the subject of this review, who passed away at his home in Burbank in 1905. A valiant soldier in battle, a high-minded citizen, a loving husband and kind father, and a faithful friend, he was during his life considered one of the strong, virile men of the community, and society in general would be better if there were more like him.
Joseph Miller was born in Baltimore,Maryland, on the 2nd day of May, 1828, and is a son of John and Mary Miller, who were early settlers in that city. They were of German descent and in the subject were embodied many of the elements which have made citizens of that nationality such a desirable addition to our great cosmopolitan population. Mr. Miller was educated in the public schools of the city of Baltimore. In 1852, when about twenty-four years old, he came to Wayne county, Ohio, and for a while worked at farm work for others. In 1855 he began working for himself and thereafter he successfully carried on farming operations until his death. He was a man of progressive ideas and kept in close touch with the most modern ideas relating to the science of agriculture and therefore was able to reap abundantly where he had sown. In 1899 he moved from the farm to the town of Burbank, where he lived until his death, through still maintaining a personal supervision over his farming operations.
Mr. Miller's private life was rudely interrupted in the early sixties when the tocsin of war was sounded through out the land, and in response to his country's call for aid he enlisted, in 1861, in the Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under the immediate command of Captain Horn, and during the following three years he rendered valiant and faithful service in defense of his country's integrity. He took part in a number of heavy engagements, besides many minor battles and skirmishes, and gained an enviable record as a faithful and courageous soldier.
On the 7th of July, 1853, Mr. Miller married Sarah E. Stoops, a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John and Elizabeth Stoops. The father died in his native state and the mother brought her family to Ohio in 1853, her death occurring in 1884. To this union were born ten children, named as follows: Margaret Jane, Elizabeth, George, Rebecca, Christopher (deceased), Charles, Edward, Lee Della and Clara. In politics Mr. Miller was an ardent Democrat and took a deep interest in the success of his party at the polls. He was a quiet and unassuming man himself, however, and made no effort to secure public preferment for himself. He was a man of steady and commendable habits and had the happy faculty of winning friends wherever he went, his friends being in number as his acquaintances.
From The History of Wayne County, Ohio, B. E. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910